NOUNS

A word that is the name of a person, animal, place, thing, quality, idea, and is typically
used in a sentence as subject or object of a verb or as object of a preposition, is called
a Noun.
‘Thing’ includes all objects that we can see , hear, taste, smell or something we can
think of bt cannot perceive by the senses.
Nouns are also called ‘naming words’
Under that umbrella term, there are several types of nouns, so, let's clear
things up and take a look at each type separately. Below, you'll find the
major classifications of the different types of nouns in English, along with
examples so you can see these types of nouns in action .

Common Nouns
Common nouns refer to general, unspecific categories. So, while ‘Punjab’ is a
proper noun because it names a specific state, state is a common noun
because it can refer to any state. While "Amity" refers to a particular place of
higher learning, the common noun university can refer to any institution of
that type.
So, common noun is a name given in common to every person or thing of the
same class or thing. Eg- girl, boy, city

Proper Nouns
Proper nouns are nouns that refer to specific people, places or things. Proper
nouns like Chandigarh, Sonia begin with capital letter

Concrete Nouns
Concrete nouns are nouns that refer to things that exist physically and can
be touched, seen, smelled, felt, or tasted. Here are some examples:
 Can I pet your dog?
 Please pass the salt.
 Your sweater is made of such soft wool.
Concrete nouns can be perceived by at least one of our five senses.

Abstract Nouns
More ethereal, theoretical concepts use abstract nouns to refer to them.
Ideas, qualities or conditions like love, hate, power, and time are all
examples of abstract nouns.
 All you need is love.
 There's so much hate for the new Star Wars trilogy.
 We must use this time wisely.
In these sentences, the abstract nouns refer to concepts or feelings that
cannot be understood concretely or touched physically .

Collective Nouns
Collective nouns are nouns that refer to a group of something in particular, a
number of persons or things taken together and spoken of as one whole. Eg-
crowd, army, family etc.Often, collective nouns are used to refer to groups of
animals. Consider the following sentences.
 Look at that gaggle of geese.
 There used to be herds of wild buffalo on the prairie.
 A crowd of kids is in the pool today.
 The team did a great job in the competition.

Compound Nouns
A compound noun contains two or more words that join together to make a
single noun. Compound nouns can be two words written as one (closed
form), such as softball and toothpaste; words that are hyphenated
(hyphenated form), such as six-pack and son-in-law; or separate words
(open form), such as post office and upper class that go together by
meaning.

Countable Nouns
Countable nouns are names of people or things etc.that can be counted.
They can occur in both singular and plural forms, can be modified by
numbers, and can co-occur with quantifying determiners, such as many,
most, more, several, etc.
For example, the noun "bike" is a countable noun.
 There is a bike in that garage.
In this example, the word bike is singular because it refers to one bike that is
sitting in a particular garage.
However, "bike" can also occur in the plural form.
 There are six bikes in that garage.
In this example, the plural noun bike refers to more than one bike because it
is being modified by the number six.
In addition, countable nouns can be used with determiners like "several,"
rather than a number.
 In that garage, there are several bikes.
Uncountable Nouns
On the other hand, some nouns are not countable, They are referred to as
uncountable nouns. For example, the word "clutter" is an uncountable noun.
 The garage is full of clutter.
This sentence makes grammatical sense. However, the following example
does not.
 That garage is full of clutters.
Uncountable nouns usually cannot take plural forms.
Therefore, clutters isn't grammatical.
Liquids and powders are among the items that are considered uncountable
nouns, such as milk, rice, wood, sand, water, and flour. Other more
abstract examples that cannot be counted would be air, freedom,
or intelligence.

Material Nouns
Material nouns refer to materials or substances from which things are made.
Let's take the word "cotton." Cotton is an adjective when used in
"cotton dress." However, cotton is a material noun when used to describe the
crop. For example:
 We use cotton from a local farm in our t-shirts.
Possessive Nouns
Possessive nouns demonstrate ownership over something else. The best way
to spot them is to look for an apostrophe. Here are some examples:
 Melissa's imagination ran wild as she daydreamed about her trip to
Ireland.
 Ireland's landscape is truly breathtaking.
 The puppy's favorite toy is the squeaky newspaper.
These nouns are demonstrating ownership, but they're also still persons,
places, or things.

NOUNS – EXERCISE
Identify the noun and it’s type in the following sentences. The correct answers follow -

1. The Chinese army adopted cleverness to win the war and occupy India’s territory.
2. Teacher took the students to visit the historical and political buildings of New Delhi like Red fort,
Rashtrapati Bhawan, India gate, etc.
Answers
1. The Chinese army adopted cleverness to win the war and occupy India’s territory.
Chinese – Proper noun
Army – Collective noun
Cleverness – Abstract noun
War – common noun
India – Proper noun
Territory – common noun

2. Teacher took the students to visit the historical and political buildings of New Delhi like Red fort,
Rashtrapati bhawan, India gate, etc.
Teacher – Common noun
Students – common noun
Historical – abstract noun
Political – abstract noun
Buildings – common noun
New Delhi – Proper noun
Red Fort - Proper noun
Rashtrapati Bhawan - Proper noun
India Gate - Proper noun

.
Point out the nouns in the following sentences and say whether they are common, proper, collective, material or abstract.
1. Always speak the truth.
2. We all love honesty.
3. I have two children.
4. The lion is the king of the beasts.
5. Solomon was the wisest of all kings.
6. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
7. Birds of a feather flock together.
8. Who teaches you grammar?
9. The Nile is the longest of all rivers.
10. A committee of six was appointed to assess the situation.
11. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India.
12. The boy was rewarded for his honesty.
13. He gave me an apple.
14. I recognized his voice at once.
15. You should never tell a lie.
16. Wisdom is better than riches.
17. He is on the jury.
18. Silver and gold are precious metals.
19. Still waters run deep.
20. The cackling of geese saved Rome.
21. Tubal Cain was a man of might.
22. Old habits die hard.
23. The early bird catches the worm.
24. It was Edison who invented the phonograph.
25. You can’t pump the ocean dry.
Answers
1. Truth – abstract noun
2. Honesty – abstract noun
3. Children – common noun
4. Lion – common; king – common; beasts – common
5. Solomon – proper noun; kings – common noun
6. Cleanliness – abstract noun; godliness – abstract noun
7. Birds – common noun; feather – common noun
8. Grammar – abstract noun
9. Nile – proper noun; rivers – common noun
10. Committee – collective noun; situation – abstract noun
11. Jawaharlal Nehru – proper noun; Prime Minister – common noun; India – proper noun
12. Boy – common noun; honesty – abstract noun
13. Apple – common noun
14. Voice – abstract noun
15. Lie – abstract noun
16. Wisdom – abstract; riches – abstract
17. Jury – collective noun
18. Silver – material; gold – material; metal – common
19. Waters – common noun/material noun
20. Cackling – abstract; geese – common; Rome – proper
21. Tubal Cain – proper; man – common
22. Habits – abstract noun
23. Bird – common noun; worm – common noun
24. Edison – proper noun; phonograph – common noun
25. Ocean – common noun
Nouns and Articles
 Countable nouns can be singular or plural. We use a/an when referring to singular countable
nouns.
Eg- a car, An orange,
 Uncountable nouns are used with singular verbs but they are not used with a/an.

E.g. – camping, paint, anger, education, advice, ink, salt

 Some nouns can be countable or uncountable depending on whether we are using the noun
to refer to a single thing or a general idea.
I saw a chicken.(countable)
I prefer chicken to fish. ( uncountable as it refers to general idea of meat)
I bought furniture for my house ( uncountable as it refers to a mass)
 Pair nouns refer to things made of two matching parts.eg-scissors, trousers
They are used with plural verbs and do not take a/an even when referring to a single piece.
But when using the phrase ‘ pair of’, we use ‘a’.- a pair of scissors still means one scissors
 Group or collective nouns are used with singular verbs when referring to a single unit. But
when we are concerned about each individual part of the group, we use the plural verb.
Eg- The band is ready to perform. (We are referring to a single unit)-
The jury are debating (we are referring to each member)
 There are singular nouns that end in-s but take a singular verb as they refer to a single unit
or thing. Eg- Physics is an interesting subject, diabetes
 There are nouns like ‘cattle, police’ that do not end with –s but are plurals and do not take
a/an.

Dear students,
Study this material as well as the one uploaded earlier on ‘Articles’ and do the exercises in
chapter 6 of your grammar text. If you face any difficulty, let me know. We shall hold an
online class. All the best
Ajinder